Walter Isaacson, the author of the best selling Steve Jobs biography, has revealed that Apple's late co-founder didn't venture further into social because Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg did it so well.

Business Insider reports that Isaacson was speaking publicly with Facebook board member and CEO of the Washington Post Company Don Graham, when he said: "I once asked Jobs who [he] admired in the Valley. Mark's was the first name on his lips."

Graham revealed that Zuckerberg admired Jobs in the same way. "Jobs meant an enormous amount to the education of Mark," he told Isaacson. "Mark will talk about that until the cows come home."

Isaacson claims that Jobs' admiration for Zuckerberg stemmed from his "intuitive feel" for what Facebook needed next, and he "felt an odd kinship to Mark."

"Steve never cracked the code on social," Isaacson noted. "Maybe a few people in this room remember Ping."

Ping is Apple's music-centric social networking service, which is reportedly going to be shut down in favour of partnerships with Facebook and Twitter.

When Isaacson asked Jobs why he didn't continue trying to succeed in social, Jobs replied: "Maybe because Mark did it so well. There's not a need for a whole lot of social networks and Facebook has got it licked."